Women in trades Success Stories

A Love Of Driving

Ever since she got her first driver licence at sixteen, Megan Oliver has loved driving. In fact, she loves it so much, the 23-year-old has turned her passion into a successful and rewarding career as a truck driver for Allied Concrete, Canterbury.

It wasn’t always the career she had planned however. After she left school, Megan gained a qualification in beauty therapy but, after a year in the industry, she decided it wasn’t what she had hoped for. Going from being a beauty therapist to a licenced truck driver is quite a career change, and Megan admits that it’s one she may not have pursued if it weren’t for the encouragement of her partner.

“I just didn’t think of it as a job I could do,” says Megan. “But looking back, I don’t know what was stopping me. I’ve always had an interest in trucks. When I would see one of the large Class 5 truck and trailers on the road, I always dreamed of driving one someday! It just took a little push from my partner for me to decide to take the initiative and gain my Class 2 licence and enter the commercial road transport industry.”

After some initial experience working for a freighting company, where she gained her Class 4 learner licence, Megan joined Allied Concrete in April 2016. Since then, she has obtained her Class 4 full licence, which allows her to drive rigid trucks of up to 30 tonnes, and is nearing completion of her National Certificate in Goods Service (Heavy Vehicle Driver) (Level 3) through MITO.

“I wanted to get qualified in order to challenge myself and gain recognition for my knowledge and experience in the industry,” says Megan. “As an on-the-job learner, I can put the skills I’m learning straight into practice – which is definitely a benefit if you’re more of a hands-on or visual learner like myself. Being a qualified truck driver will allow me to progress my career within the industry and I'm incredibly fortunate that I can accomplish this through my work - while I’m getting paid!”

Allied Concrete Area Manager, Simon Packman, says “As a business, we’re always looking for ways to encourage more young people into the industry. Through MITO, our employees can complete qualifications that open up a number of career pathways for them - both within Allied and the wider industry. Megan is a perfect example of the opportunities that exist. With her fantastic work ethic, and desire to be continually challenged, she will soon be starting a new role within the company as Operations Trainee.”

Megan is more than excited by the new role. “It’s a two to three year internal leadership programme that may eventually lead to a manager position. You get exposed to every single part of the concrete industry – whether it’s sales, batching, testing or slumping. I’m really looking forward to the challenge and added responsibility.”

Driving will still be part of the job though and Megan’s certainly happy about that. “After all - I really do love it,” she laughs. “The freedom of being out on the road all the time, and not being stuck inside, really resonates with me. Plus, I get to do my part in helping to rebuild Christchurch. We've helped with some amazing buildings and subdivisions which is extremely rewarding.”